This family-sized dish has all the best ingredients of perogies, with the healthy additions of pureed beans and spinach.

To make bean puree, rinse and drain a 540-ml (19-oz) can of beans. Place in a food processor, add 50 ml (1/4 cup) hot water and puree until the mixture is very smooth, adding more water in small amounts to reach desired consistency (similar to baby food), about 5 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Refrigerate or freeze unused bean puree for your next batch.

Place 3 lasagna noodles on bottom of baking dish. Spread bean-potato mixture over first layer of noodles and cover with 3 more noodles. Spread cottage cheese/spinach mixture over second layer of noodles. Cover with remaining noodles.

In a skillet, saute onion in margarine until translucent. Remove from heat and spread over top layer of noodles.

Cover with foil and bake on middle oven rack for 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Remove from oven and garnish with bacon. Bake uncovered for 5 minutes. Then remove from oven, cover and let cool for 10 minutes before serving.

This large vegetarian salad, featuring chickpeas (also known as garbanzo beans), would be great on its own for lunch or as a side dish for dinner. The recipe is easily cut in half.

1 l (4 cups) cooked corkscrew pasta, drained and cooled

1 can (540 ml/19 oz) chickpeas, drained and rinsed

375 ml (1 1/2 cups) chopped celery

375 ml (1 1/2 cups) shredded carrots

2 sweet red peppers, chopped

4 green onions, finely chopped

50 ml (1/4 cup) crumbled feta cheese

75 ml (1/3 cup) light Greek salad dressing

In a large bowl, combine pasta, chickpeas, celery, carrots, red peppers, green onions and feta. Toss lightly to mix well. Add dressing and toss to coat well. (Make ahead: Pasta mixture can be prepared a day in advance. Refrigerate overnight and toss with dressing before serving.)

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